Composition and Literature: Bridging the Gap

by Winifred Bryan Horner (Editor)

Genres: Writing

190 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1983

Reviews

[Gaijinmama · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day, when I am Queen of the World, all university English classes will be integrated skills and content-based. The idea that reading and writing are separate skills, has never made sense to me. Writers read, and readers write, do they not?! Also, while grammar and vocabulary and good things like that are important, my experience as a teacher and as a language learner is that students learn them better in context. This book, which focuses on the connections between teaching composition and literature, is exactly what I've been looking for. It's a little old (had to fill out a request for my university library to pull it out of storage!) but absolutely relevant to those of us who want to teach literature and writing skills in the same room at the same time.
The parts about the history of university English departments were fascinating. For example, I didn't know that English Literature was not even considered a serious field of study until the mid-19th century, and since my background is in Foreign Languages and Education, I wasn't aware of the division between teachers of composition and literature in higher education in the U.S. (although I had my suspicions!).
I may go out and hunt down my own copy of this book, since I know I'll be coming back to it again and again.